The present invention relates generally to flight simulators, and more particularly to an improvement to wrap-around display systems for presenting out-the-window visual imagery in a flight simulator.
A critical requirement for realistic flight simulation is that the video display provide a complete field-of-regard (the range of views available to a pilot from an aircraft cockpit by moving about his or her head). Other important requirements include a wide instantaneous field-of-view (the range of views available to a pilot at any instant while holding still his or her head), high contrast and high resolution. All of these requirements should be obtained, of course, with a compact structure and at low cost.
U.S. Pat. No. 51,137,450, "Display for Advanced Research and Training (DART) for Use in a Flight Simulator and the Like," which description is incorporated by reference into this description as though fully rewritten, describes a new compact visual display system for flight simulators that combines compactness with wide field-of-regard, wide field-of-view, reasonable resolution, high brightness, excellent contrast and low cost. Before the DART, the prior art of large radius domes and similar systems, in order to achieve an infinity display effect which, until the DART, was believed necessary for a successful flight simulator, had to compromise for each system various combinations of wide field-of-regard, wide field-of-view, resolution, brightness, contrast and low cost.
As described in the DART patent, even the more modern Fiber Optic Helmet Mounted Displays (FOHMD), with their excellent brightness, contrast and resolution, are nearly as expensive as domes and cannot deliver a wide instantaneous field-of-view.
Unfortunately, even the original DART, while a great improvement over prior art dome and FOHMD imagery systems, is not a complete solution to the problem of providing an as realistic as possible display for a flight simulator or similar apparatus. The resolution delivered by the DART is insufficient to provide aircrews with the visual acuity required for target acquisition and aspect and for the identification cues needed for the most visually demanding Air-to-Air and Air-to-Ground tasks. What the DART does best is provide the peripheral vision cues needed for altitude and orientation maintenance and perception of velocity from flow vector cues.
Thus it is seen that there is a need for an improvement to the DART, or similar wide field-of-view, reasonable resolution, display systems for flight simulators, that adds the high resolution needed for simulating the most visually demanding tasks while retaining the compactness, wide field-of-regard, wide field-of-view, high brightness, excellent contrast, low cost and other advantages of the DART.
It is, therefore, a principal object of the present invention to provide an improvement to the DART, or similar display systems, that adds high resolution at the continuously changing area-of-interest, or foveal, view of the display system.
It is a feature of the present invention that it combines in one display system the best features of the DART and of Helmet Mounted Display Systems.
It is an advantage of the present invention that it uses a simpler, lighter weight and less costly modification of more conventional Helmet Mounted Displays (HMDs) called a Helmet Mounted Area of Interest (HMAoI) display.
These and other objects, features and advantages of the present invention will become apparent as the description of certain representative embodiments proceeds.